1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to alarm and event notification methods and systems, and more particularly to an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system and method that enables automated simultaneous contact and notification of one or more authorized persons over a plurality of telephonic and electronic communications channels including wireless, voice, pager, voice mail, fax and email to provide specific event information relative to one or more monitored (inputs), sensors or alarms.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Conventional security systems that alert building occupants and law enforcement and emergency authorities based upon a security violation occurring at the secured premises typically are usually interconnected to a central monitoring station service system via a telecommunications line, such as a publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). Many alarm systems are in remote communication with a central monitoring station service via a wireless or RF communication network.
Typically, the security or alarm system includes sensors deployed at strategic locations throughout the premises or on the vehicle being monitored to detect a change in status of the sensor. For example in a business or residence, sensors may be located in doorways, windows and other ports of entry and motion sensors may also be placed strategically within the building to detect movement while carefully positioned smoke and heat sensors detect the presence of fire. Vehicle alarm sensors may be positioned to detect motion, glass breakage, and changes in the electrical or ignition system, etc.
The sensors are connected with a central controller which is interconnected by wireless or wireline connections to a central monitoring station service which is maintained by a security service provider that continuously monitors all activated security systems for sensor breaches. Responsive to receiving a breach signal, the controller issues an audible alarm to the occupants if present at the time and originates a call to the central monitoring station. Upon receiving the breach signal from the security system, the central monitoring station determines the type of breach, and a person at the central monitoring station retrieves the subscribers contact numbers usually consisting of the premises telephone number and the subscribers residence telephone number and attempts to manually telephone and notify the occupants or owners or other authorities of the breach or emergency situation.
During this process, the person or staff at the central monitoring station will view the stored telephone numbers and attempt to place calls to the systems subscriber at those numbers to tell them of the current security event and attempt to determine if the event is a valid security breach or possibly just a false alarm condition. It is time consuming for the central monitoring station to access and dial these stored numbers and difficult for the subscriber to change the stored information, and the contact numbers frequently become obsolete and out of date and useless during an actual security breach.
Usually, these calls to notify the subscriber are made by just one employee who is responsible for processing the event. The employee must determine the manner in which to handle the call and the person that needs to be notified. The subscriber has no direct control over the proper handling of the event or any assurance that the employee will handle the event in the most expedient and beneficial manner. Thus on many occasions, due to the manual nature of processing these calls, one at a time, vital minutes lapse between when the actual breach or emergency occurs and the subscribers and/or emergency authorities are actually notified, if ever. These delays and uncertain processing methods frequently compromise the effectiveness of the security system and render the monitoring service less effective and efficient than what could have been had the notification process been more timely. In some cases a telecommunication line may be severed or down caused by tampering or failure so that a breach signal from the security system will not be sent to the central monitoring station and the central monitoring service is unaware of an alarm situation.
Thus, there is a long-felt need in the security and alarm notification industry for a more efficient and effective system and method for alerting subscribers and authorities when a security breach or other specific event occurs to insure that the conditions of the event are properly handled the most calculated, preplanned, expeditious and secure manner.
This need is addressed and a technological advance is achieved by the present automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system and method which is distinguished over the prior art in general by an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and notification system capable of being triggered by the change in status of any sensing device or process including the sensor of an alarm system or other event. The system enables automated simultaneous contact of one or more persons over a plurality of telephonic and electronic communication channels and provides parallel event-specific notification via voice, pager, voice mail, fax and email to the recipient(s) that are identified by electronic or speech recognized entry of a PIN and then provides them with a detailed message including the date and time of a specific event which has occurred or failed to occur with respect to a monitored sensor. A telephone switching or conferencing feature allows the recipient(s) to communicate directly with a predetermined or pre-programmed location or person or select from a menu based upon the type of event that has occurred and the pre-programmed selection list. The system may be custom programmed by the authorized subscriber via a telephone interactive voice response system or Internet web page that offers specific programming, reporting, contact numbers, and message options. The system may also be triggered or programmed to perform its notification based upon the input of a timer, pre-programmed to operate at a specific time, pre-programmed to operate upon failure of an input, trigger or event to happen, or triggered by another CPU.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system which replaces and compliments the existing systems in use in a central monitoring station or may be configured and operated in manner to automatically provide the services of an central monitoring station.
It is another object of this invention to provide an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system which will allow the system subscriber himself to preprogram and control the operations of the systems and to control the manner in which he wished to receive the event specific notification services including the desired communications channels, hours of operation, vacation scheduling and the pre-programmed responses which the system will take in response to many an unlimited different types of events.
Another object of this invention is to provide an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system which allows secure internet access for the subscribers personal contact information and programming and reporting of system events, histories and setup from anywhere there is internet access allowing the subscriber to maintain accurate and predetermined processing of the event occurrences on the subscribers system.
Another object of this invention is to provide an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system which provides its services from parallel and redundant multiple locations to insure that in the event that one specific location should be rendered inoperable or inaccessible to communications channels that it""s services will still be performed by a backup or redundant master central monitoring and notification center or Network Operating Center, (NOC) providing a higher level of secure operations than just a single central monitoring station could provide.
Another object of this invention is to provide an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system which may be configured to provide event notification services for use in any application for the automated reporting of any information including process notification such as the shutdown of an oil well pump, failure of a fluids valve, opening of a warehouse entrance, the accumulation of a certain level of material, the arrival of shipment or delivery, a high water level in the hull of a marine vessel, or the tampering of a communications line, or the theft of a motor vehicle or a vandalism or break-in at a remotely stored storage container or tool shed.
A further object of this invention is to provide an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system which allows a single master monitoring and notification center or Network Operations Center, (NOC), to provide the subscriber notification services for an unlimited number of remote central monitoring stations, or subscriber facilities.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and event notification system which supplements or replaces the current systems in use in an alarm central monitoring and is also capable of providing backup alarm signal delivery to a central monitoring station of an alarm event over a backup communications channel such as a wireless radio transceiver to insure that the alarm signal actually reaches the alarm central monitoring station.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent from time to time throughout the specification and claims as hereinafter related.
The above noted objects and other objects of the invention are accomplished by the present automated parallel and redundant subscriber contact and notification system and method which is capable of being triggered by the change in status of any sensing device, or the failure in the anticipated change in status of any sensing device, or process including the sensor of an alarm system or other event. The system enables automated simultaneous contact of one or more persons over a plurality of telephonic and electronic communication channels and provides parallel event-specific notification via voice, pages, voice mail, fax and email to the recipient(s) that are identified by electronic or speech recognized entry of a PIN and then provides them with a detailed message including the date and time of a specific event which has occurred with respect to a monitored sensor. A telephone switching or conferencing feature allows the recipient(s) to communicate directly with a predetermined or pre-programmed location or person or select from a menu based upon the type of event that has occurred and the pre-programmed selection list. The system may be custom programmed by the authorized subscriber via a telephone interactive voice response system or Internet web page that offers specific programming, reporting, contact numbers, and message options. The system may also be triggered or programmed to perform its notification based upon the input of a timer, pre-programmed to operate at a specific time, upon failure of an input, trigger or event to happen, or triggered by another CPU.